To Thine Own Self Be True
by Sherlockian1895
Summary: Post first day of "Chip on My Shoulder", Emmett and Elle get down to business in terms of studying, but will all this time together lead to being more than just friends? (Of course it will, obviously).
1. A Slice of Life

AN: This fic is dedicated to my wonderful friend D'Grace who did a potentially very bad thing and introduced me to Legally Blonde the Musical. This musical brought us so much closer as friends and I now have someone else to constantly fangirl with. This one's for you 3

The crisp late October air carried the smell of autumn that was distinct to the Northeast. Emmett Forrest zipped his sweatshirt higher as he stepped out the door to his apartment building. Not his favorite sweatshirt though, that he had left with Elle and had no hopes of actually getting it back. He didn't need to have a girlfriend to know how girls worked, give them a piece of your clothing and it's gone forever.

Double checking the door was locked, he started his commute to campus. Walking by his favorite coffee shop he pulled out his wallet to see if he could spare the cash for a morning coffee. Seeing the ten-dollar bill and few ones that were left, he decided against the extra expense, saving his money for something important that could come up later.

Emmett's walk was a short one. It was early Saturday morning with not much traffic on the streets of Cambridge. During his commute, he continually played back the words spoken to him the previous night. _Would you be willing to tutor me?_ Elle's face had been determined and confident, yet Emmett could see the slight vulnerability in her asking for help. Of course he had said yes. He'd really only spoken to Elle for less than 24 hours, but he'd known her since the beginning of the semester, and looking back, he was astonished at how easily he had agreed to tutor her. Thoughts of how much of his time it would take up and if she was really serious about law school never crossed his mind.

As he reached his destination he checked his watch and it read ten minutes to eight. He tended to be on the early side whenever he needed to be somewhere, he just hoped that Elle wouldn't mind him showing up earlier than scheduled. She had agreed to an "all-day, getting my life back on track" study session starting at eight that morning. Emmett knocked on the door quietly, bearing in mind the other students in the dorm building who had probably been asleep only a few hours. Bruiser yipped a few times at the knock and moments later a still pajama-clad Elle opened the door.

"Emmett! Sorry, I hit the snooze button a few too many times this morning. Is it okay if you wait while I change?"

"Yeah of course, take your time, I'm early anyways." Elle smiled at him as she turned to head back towards her bathroom. Emmett noticed the different ice cream cones adorning her pink pajamas, thinking they were incredibly cute. "Hey," he called just before she closed the bathroom door, "I like the pj's… Very, middle school slumber party-esque." Elle huffed and stuck her tongue out at him as she closed the door, leaving Emmett laughing quietly to himself.

He sat down on the corner of her bed as Bruiser jumped up to join him, taking the time to observe Elle's room. Emmett was impressed when he noticed the garbage can fuller than when he left it last night. Elle had actually listened to his advice… for now. At 8:00 sharp Elle emerged from the bathroom looking ready to take on the world, all in pink.

"All right, let's do this." She grabbed her bag and bent over to pick up the stack of law books while Emmett caught himself staring but quickly regained his focus, shaking the thought and chastising himself before Elle had stood back up. He was greeted with a mass of textbooks dropped in his lap and let out a _humph_ in response. "That's for the pajama comment. Now, where exactly are we going again?"

"The library?" Emmett responded questioningly, confused as to how they could have been going anywhere else. "Have you never been there before?"

"No, but there's a first time everything." Elle bustled towards the door and opened it, looking back at Emmett who was still sitting on her bed, law books in hand. "Are you coming? According to you I have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah," Emmett shook his head, clearing the mental fog that Elle had instilled just by being herself. "I'm right behind you."

"Bye Bruiser!" Elle waved at her beloved pup as Emmett followed her out the door. "Paulette is going to come over and take him for the day and tonight since I didn't know how long we would be gone."

* * *

The air was brisk as they walked across campus towards the library and Emmett noticed Elle shiver more than once. The California girl always lived up to her own fashion standards but had yet to adapt that fashion to Massachusetts weather. The library wasn't too far though and she had an air and stride of determination that Emmett did not want to break. As they entered through the doors of the building he had spent far too much of his life in, he remained continually perplexed with the girl he had met the first day of class, so much blonde and so much pink, yet so very much beneath it all.

Numerous books, papers, and cans of Red Bull were strewn across the library table, looking as if a bomb had gone off with Elle Woods as its epicenter. "Do we have to keep going?" she groaned as she lowered her face into her textbook.

"Well it is," Emmett checked the time on his watch, "after eight o'clock. I suppose twelve hours of work have earned you a break."

"Ugh, good, because I am starving." Elle accentuated the syllables in her final word to further get her point across. "Wait, twelve hours? Have we really been here that long?"

"You did request an 'all-day, getting my life back on track' study session, did you not?" Elle groaned once again, defeated.

"Why do you always have to be right?" Emmett smiled. He thought he should start keeping a tally of all the times she had said that. Elle let out a sigh though, looking utterly exhausted.

"Hey," he said, concern in his voice. Emmett instinctively stood up and made his way around to the other side of the table, not particularly thinking about what he was doing. He put a hand on Elle's shoulder and she looked up at him, eyes showing how defeated she felt. "You made a great start today. I know it seems like this unconquerable mountain right now, but I believe in you. Already today you've picked up information far quicker than I've seen other students do. You've already got me, you've just got to believe in yourself."

That brought a small smile to Elle's face, and her eyes no longer looked like tears would appear at any moment. "Thank you." Emmett returned the smile but realized his hand was still on Elle's shoulder, though she either hadn't noticed or hadn't minded the contact. Now conscious of what he was doing, Emmett quickly removed his hand and ran it through his hair.

"Pizza?" he said quickly, trying to change the subject. "My treat." Elle's eyes lit up at the mention of food and she had seemed to have perked up a bit.

"Yes, please, I need to get out of this god-forsaken building." Emmett gathered the scattered papers and Elle's textbooks as she packed up her bag. He pulled out his cell phone, dialing the number for his favorite pizza place.

"What toppings?" asked Emmett, covering the microphone.

"Ooo, white pizza with broccoli please," replied Elle. Emmett's face turned into one of disgust and confusion.

"Uh, yeah, can you do half broccoli white, half just regular pepperoni? Great, thanks… Yes the address is a Harvard dorm, I'll meet them at the door, just call. Thirty-five minutes, got it." Emmett hung up the phone to see Elle fixing her hair in the reflection in the window. He didn't understand why she felt the need to continually maintain her appearance up to her standards. She was more beautiful than any woman he had met before, just the way she had looked this morning in her pajamas. Not that Emmett cared, but it was kind of hard to not _see_ Elle. Especially when she was suddenly right in front of him, Emmett too lost in his thoughts to notice her moving.

"So the pizza?" Elle looked up at him expectantly.

"Oh, uh, yeah, half an hour or so. I just told the guy to deliver it to your dorm, is that alright? It's been a long day, so I figured you'd want to go home..."

"Of course!" Elle stopped him from rambling. "Let's go." Emmett followed Elle out the doors of the library to meet even colder air than in the morning, and a biting wind to go with. He looked at Elle in her lightweight top, colder than she was probably letting on. He sighed inwardly, hoping that losing his sweatshirts wasn't going to become a habit.

"Elle, hold up, here," he unzipped and removed his sweatshirt, handing it over to her. "You look like you could use it." Their hands brushed as Elle took the sweatshirt, looking slightly perplexed.

"Thank you, you're too sweet. But, I don't want you to be cold too," said Elle, attempting to hand the sweatshirt back. Emmett put a hand up to stop her.

"I'll be fine. _I_ know how to dress for the different seasons," Emmett said somewhat mockingly. "Want to know my fashion secret?" Elle snorted at the mention of Emmett doing anything fashionable. "Layers." And with that Elle let out a full on laugh, one that Emmett had never heard before and one that created an unexpected warm feeling in his chest. Her laugh was infectious and he too broke and joined her.

"If being a lawyer doesn't work out for you, I can get you in with some fashion critics I know," said Elle cheekily as she pulled on the warmer piece of clothing. "Now let's go, I'm hungry!" She marched off ahead of Emmett while he once again remained in awe of little Miss Woods comma Elle.

* * *

Emmett made his way up the stairs back to Elle's dorm, warm pizza in hand. His stomach growled at the smell wafting out of the pizza box. As he turned the corner he was met by a solid mass rather than the hallway. "Hey, watch where you're going!" came a familiar voice. Emmett looked up to see Mr. Rich Boy III staring down at him.

"Sorry Warner, I didn't see you there." Emmett took a step forward but Warner was blocking his way.

"Does Callahan not pay you enough so you've got to deliver pizza on the side?" Condescension dripped from Warner's voice.

"Actually I-" Emmett was cut off by the sound of Elle's door opening.

"Oh, Emmett, I was afraid you got lost. I'm so hungry!" Warner turned his head at the sound of Elle's voice. "Warner!" Emmett felt the rise of something hot spread throughout his body at the change in Elle's demeanor upon seeing Warner. "What are you doing here?" She twirled a finger through her hair.

"I'm just heading over to Vivian's. Enjoy your… pizza." Warner looked at Elle, still wearing Emmett's sweatshirt, and then back at Emmett with a smirk, moving to let him go through. Elle sighed as Warner walked away.

"Elle?" Emmett was standing in front of her. "Can I uh, come in?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry…" Elle stepped aside and Emmett brought the pizza in, setting the box on her desk.

"Plates?"

"Umm…" Emmett looked around the room. He walked over and sat down on the floor, back up against Elle's bed.

"Is the floor okay? We can just eat it out of the box…" Emmett hoped he wasn't being too forward by just sitting on Elle's floor.

"Sure!" Elle plopped herself down next to Emmett, their shoulders touching, immediately grabbing a slice and starting to eat. "Ugh, I was so hungry. Thank you for the pizza, I so needed this right now." Emmett turned his head to look at her and smiled.

"It was no problem, really. Honestly, you should thank past-Emmett for not buying coffee this morning or else I wouldn't have had enough cash on me for pizza."

"Oh stop it, I'm thanking right-now-Emmett, so just deal with it." Elle took another bite of pizza. "So, tell me, do you do this a lot?" Emmett gave Elle a confused look.

"Ummmm, I'm not sure what you mean-"

"Tutoring other students and buying them food on a Saturday night?" Emmett scoffed.

"Hah, no, I used to spend my Saturday nights doing my own studying. Now that I'm working for Callahan, I tend to have a bit more time for myself. Saturday nights usually consist of catching up on all the reading I couldn't do while in law school, maybe stopping by to see my mom. Nothing too exciting…" As he continued, Emmett realized how boring his life must seem to Elle, the social butterfly who was her sorority's president. "You?"

Elle laughed. "This? I've never done _this_ , if that's what you're asking. Back at UCLA Saturday nights were usually reserved for parties or Delta Nu events." At the mention of Delta Nu, Elle's face dropped.

"I'm sure you miss your friends a lot. I can't imagine moving across the country and leaving everyone I know behind. Though I suppose you knew Warner, so you weren't completely alone…" Saying Warner's name left a bad taste in Emmett's mouth, though he wasn't overly sure why.

"Please, Warner didn't even know I was coming, and seeing me here was a big rain on his parade. The only remotely 'nice' thing he's said to me was last night when he told me his biggest regret was not seeing me in that stupid bunny costume. God, I should've never even come here…" Elle forcefully grabbed another slice of pizza out of the box.

"Elle?" Emmett turned and looked at Elle, really looked at her, seeing what she had to offer was so much more than Warner had obviously ever seen.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to say something right now that you're probably not going to like, but there's more pizza if that's the case." Emmett inhaled, _God I should really not be saying this, I barely know her._ "It seems to me like Warner was kind of, still is really, an ass." Emmett braced himself for tears, yelling, all of it really, but instead all he got was a burst of laughter.

"You know," said Elle, more half laughing-half crying, "you're not necessarily wrong. To be honest, most of those Saturday nights spent at parties were then later spent taking care of Warner while he hurled up everything he drank." Emmett snorted.

"You sound like quite the devoted girlfriend."

"A little too devoted maybe. I did follow the man to Harvard Law School."

"Yeaahhh, you did do that." Elle and Emmett both laughed at the somewhat ridiculousness of Elle's situation. As their laughter died down, Emmett noticed Elle staring down at what remained of the pizza. "You can have it if you want," he offered.

"Oh, no," said Elle, focusing again, "I was just thinking." She paused. Emmett felt like he had said enough that he probably shouldn't have already ( _where did that come from anyway?_ ) so he didn't push further. However, Elle continued: "You're right, Warner is an ass. I'm still in love with him though, I mean I think I am anyways, I thought he was going to propose to me for Christ's sake." Elle pulled the sleeves down on Emmett's sweatshirt and wrapped herself in it more, causing Emmett to realize that she was still wearing it.

"I'm sure he'll come to," Emmett muttered. He pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his arms on top of them. "How could he not?" Emmett smiled at Elle, hoping he wasn't giving away how he actually felt about her ex-boyfriend.

"Thank you Emmett." Elle put her hand over his hand, causing the hair on his arms to stand up. "You're too sweet."

"Oh you know, I try." Elle removed her hand, revealing his watch, and Emmett found himself missing the warmth. Elle had her eyes still stuck on his wrist though.

"Ohmigod, Emmett, what happened to your watch?" Her question was directed to the two large cracks running across the watch face and the multiple scratches and scuffs covering the band.

"Oh," said Emmett, pulling it closer to his face, "this was my dad's watch. He, uh, left when I was seven, but he forgot his watch lying on the bathroom counter that morning." He rubbed the watch face with his thumb. "It's one of the few things I've got from him, so I just kind of, kept it around until it would actually fit someday." A look of sympathy spread across Elle's face.

"He must have meant a lot to you."

"Yeah, he used to take me to the comic book store every Wednesday when I was little." Elle snorted. "I thought that place was magical… I'm over it now though. I don't even know why I even wear this thing anymore."

"Probably for the same reason I still wear stuff that Warner bought me. Just because they're gone doesn't mean they didn't mean something at some point."

"Thank you." Emmett smiled, appreciating her comment. "Now, if I can read this old thing correctly, it's almost midnight. It's been a long day, I should let you get some sleep." He stood up, grabbing the pizza box and moving it to Elle's desk. Emmett turned around to see Elle standing, holding his sweatshirt out to him.

"You did say you wanted it back."

"I'm pretty sure I said I wanted my sweatshirt you took yesterday back," he said. "Though this will do for now." Their hands brushed once again as Emmett took his sweatshirt back, causing his heart to race, and he pulled it on.

"So when will I see you again?"

"I suppose you earned the day off for tomorrow," he joked. "I'll see you in Callahan's class on Monday, though make sure you _actually_ do the reading before then."

"Yes, yes, I will, I _promise_ ," Elle said, somewhat insincerely.

"After that we'll pick up where we left off today. I'll see you Monday." Emmett made his way to the door and Elle followed him.

"Thank you so much for everything. You're the first person here who's actually believed I can make it through law school." She was standing in the door frame while Emmett stood just out in the hallway.

"I'm just telling you as I see it. Get some sleep so you don't have to continue living off of Red Bull tomorrow," he laughed.

"Goodnight Emmett."

"Goodnight Elle." They smiled at each other one last time before Elle closed her door. As the latch clicked Emmett let out a loud sigh. _This is not what I needed_ , he thought. _I'm just tutoring her, helping her out, so she can win back her jerk ex-boyfriend. She is in no way going to be interested in me._ But he couldn't back out now, he had made a commitment to Elle, and he really did believe in her.

As he left Elle's dorm, Emmett realized that she seemed more lonely than at first glance, especially as he seemed to be her only real friend besides the hairdresser she had mentioned the night before. She was so different than what he initially judged when meeting her for the first time. She was intelligent, funny, and she knew how to take a joke and give one right back. He smiled just thinking about her. And suddenly, Emmett Forrest found himself walking home on a chilly October evening, far past midnight, and for the first time in a while, especially looking forward to a Monday morning.


	2. Thankful for You: Part I

Emmett Forrest groaned at the incessant beeping emanating from his bedside table. He rolled over, forcefully snoozing the alarm that read 7:00. He hadn't got back from Elle's dorm until after two o'clock the night before. After he had informed her that yes, her grades were improving, but only just, Elle had become a force to be reckoned with. Her studying continued well into the night, eventually reaching the point where Elle knew the question before Emmett had a chance to finish it. The voraciousness of her studying impressed him, and Emmett only hoped that this would be the breakthrough she needed to really get her grades up.

The snoozed alarm went off again, jerking Emmett from his thoughts. He sat up and shut the alarm off for good, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. A shiver ran through his body as his bare feet hit the cold floor, and he padded his way to the bedroom window. A light dusting of snow covered the cars on the street outside. _Typical Boston weather_ , he thought. _It's not even December yet_. In fact, it was Thanksgiving morning, the real reason he had woken up so early.

Emmett, being the kind son that he is, had invited his mother over to his apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. She lived in Worcester, and due to the short break, it was more time effective for her to make the 45 minute trip to Cambridge than the other way around. However, that also meant that Emmett was responsible for the majority of the cooking. Not that cooking was a problem for Emmett, in fact, he had called his mom weeks ago informing her that he was cooking Thanksgiving dinner whether she liked it or not. Emmett had always had an affinity towards the kitchen since he was young. With his mom working multiple jobs during his childhood he had been left to make dinner on his own more often than not, which had led to much experimentation and mostly edible meals. Now, when Emmett was actually home and had a chance to make dinner, cooking had become a bit of a catharsis from dealing with Callahan every day.

Emmett grabbed his watch off his dresser and sleepily made his way to the kitchen, with a pit stop at the bathroom along the way. He hoped the turkey was thoroughly defrosted but knew how this kind of thing usually went. Thankfully, when he pulled the bird out of the refrigerator, it seemed manageable. Emmett made himself coffee and sat at the small table in the kitchen. It was meant for four people though it would be a squeeze at dinner with all the food. Elle had looked so dejected after he had informed her that going home for the short break probably wasn't the best of ideas, so he had hastily invited her over for dinner with him and his mom. Elle had immediately accepted, quelling Emmett's irrational fears of her saying "no" and not wanting to spend time with him. However, the thought of Elle and his mom meeting was making him question his initial decision.

Audrey Forrest was an inimitable woman. She had raised Emmett, often times by herself, while working multiple jobs. Now, she had finally found a good-paying job as a nursing assistant in Worcester, and spent most of her time bragging to anyone she could about her son, the Harvard graduate lawyer. He had told Audrey about Elle over multiple phone conversations and had already not heard the end of questions about whether she was his girlfriend. Emmett knew all too well that his mother would intentionally ask him awkward questions with Elle around and overall try to embarrass him.

After finishing his coffee, Emmett returned to the kitchen to start preparing the meal's centerpiece. As he worked, his thoughts turned to the past month with Elle. Unlike today, his diet had primarily consisted of Chinese takeout, pizza, and _lots_ of Red Bull. He and Elle had fallen into a routine rather quickly after their first study session. Emmett would see Elle bright and early the mornings of Callahan's classes, where he would usually spend the majority of his time focused on Elle. Every class he could tell how much she was improving. She asked more questions, made more comments, and every time she made an argument she would immediately turn to Emmett for reassurance that she had stated her case correctly. He would respond, usually with a smile and a thumb's up, and if the way Elle's face lit up when he did didn't cause a roil of butterflies in his stomach, he would be a lying man.

After Callahan's class they would spend an hour eating lunch together before Elle had to go to her next class, at which point Emmett would head to Callahan's office to pick up assignments to grade. Once Elle was finished for the day she would run back to her dorm to take care of Bruiser, though Paulette had practically adopted him at this point, and then meet Emmett at his office that was actually a supply closet. From there they would spend a few hours in the library before they got dinner. After dinner studying would resume in Elle's dorm, where Emmett found himself spending more and more of his time; not that he was complaining, of course.

Since that chilly October night where he had found Elle in that ridiculous costume their friendship had blossomed. It seemed like every day Emmett discovered something new about Elle Woods, whether it was her absolute disgust for oranges, _Emmett Forrest, if you don't get that abominable piece of fruit away from me right now I'm going to throw your favorite book out the library seventh floor window_ , or how she had her morning hair routine planned down to the very second, _Do you not have a comprehensive hair care plan Emmett?_ He caught his reflection in the kitchen window, smiling and eyes slightly glossed over, and then it immediately dropped. Elle was his friend. Elle was his good friend, who he was tutoring so she could pass her classes and win back Warner. Emmett observed the scowl that had unconsciously appeared at the thought of Warner Huntington III and sighed. What had he gotten himself into?

A bubbly knock on the door took him from his self deprecating thoughts and Emmett looked at his watch. It was eight o'clock, he had no idea who would be at his door at this hour. When he opened the door however, it turned out to be a blonde he recognized under multiple layers and a very poofy pink jacket.

"Emmett!" He was immediately embraced into a crushing hug, and his nostrils were filled with the soft scent of Elle's lavender shampoo. "Happy Thanksgiving!" The smell was heady and it took Emmett a moment to recover his senses, as well as his use of English, before he cautiously wrapped his arms around Elle in return.

"Happy Thanksgiving to you too Elle. Um… what are you doing here though? I thought I said you didn't have to come 'till later this afternoon." Elle pulled away, leaving Emmett's body smoldering where she had previously touched him.

"You did, _but_ , you give up so much of your time helping me study that I thought it would be only fair if I came and helped you today!" Emmett was flattered that she wanted to help him.

"Well, I really appreciate it," he said, running a hand through his hair. "You can just throw your coat on the-" Emmett stopped, noticing the way Elle was looking him up and down. "What?" he said, looking down at himself, "did I spill coffee or something?"

"No," Elle giggled as she removed her coat, "it's just - I like the pajamas, very, 'middle-school slumber party-esque'". It was at that point Emmett realized that he was still in his pajamas, with pants that were covered in the Batman logo and an old Spiderman t-shirt.

"Oh," he responded, pulling the edge of his shirt down, "well I guess with you and your ice cream cones and me with my superheroes, we'd make quite the team." Emmett felt the heat start to rise in his face, but thankfully Elle laughed at his comment and stuck her fist out.

"Woods and Forrest, keeping ice cream safe for all civilians." Emmett smiled, returning the fist bump. "Now," said Elle, handing Emmett a large bag that appeared to hold a couple of bottles of wine as well napkins and plates of the Thanksgiving variety. "Let's get this place spruced up for the occasion." From within the bag Elle also produced multiple Thanksgiving themed decorations.

"I'll leave you in charge of the decorating, I've got to get back to the kitchen." Emmett left Elle to do as she saw fit and got back to work on preparing dinner. A little while later, just after Emmett had put the turkey in the oven, Elle joined him in the kitchen.

"So," said Elle cheerily, "what can I do to help?"

"Well, nothing right now actually." Elle's face dropped. She looked so innocent, like a sad puppy you just couldn't say no to. " _But_ , I'll need more help later! I was just going to take a break and turn on the parade while I drank some more coffee." Emmett continued, "It's just that I wasn't really expecting help so I got some stuff done already but you're more than welcome to join me and watch the-" Emmet realized he was rambling. "Coffee?"

"Ooo, no thanks, I just got my teeth whitened."

"Oh! Right…" As Emmett entered his living room he was greeted with the sight of paper turkeys adorning the walls and Pilgrim statuettes on the coffee table. "Wow Elle, if this whole law school thing doesn't work out, you could always go into interior design, I love what you've done with the place." Emmett received a playful smack on the arm.

"Well it's a good thing I have such a good tutor then," Elle said cheekily, plopping herself on the couch. "Though that _was_ all they had left at the store this morning." Emmett smirked back in return, joining her as he turned the television on. As he put his feet up on the table out of habit, he once again caught Elle looking at him.

"You know I was planning on wearing these for my next cross-examination, but maybe Batman would be too intimidating." Elle burst, clearly not expecting Emmett's response.

"No," she chuckled, "I was just wondering why you hadn't changed yet."

"It's Thanksgiving! It's Forrest family tradition to watch the parade in your pajamas Thanksgiving morning while eating some Cookie Crisp cereal… Though they were out of Cookie Crisp at the store." Elle looked at Emmett incredulously.

"Cookie Crisp?"

"I was like six, okay, cut me some slack." Elle laughed though looked somewhat sad. "Did Cookie Crisp do you wrong in some way?" Emmett asked sarcastically.

"Oh, no, you just said it was your 'Forrest family tradition'. We never had any family traditions, especially on holidays. Daddy's never home…" Emmett looked at the blonde who seemed to have it all, but in actuality, didn't. He had spent countless nights when he was younger wishing for a life like Elle's, yet now in this moment, he knew he wouldn't give up what he had for her life at all.

"Well I would tell you to join in," he smiled gently, "except you aren't wearing any fun pajamas." Elle made a face at him. "Also, don't mention to my mother later you want in on family traditions, otherwise, she'll include you on _all_ of them." Emmett shuddered at the thought.

"I almost forgot, I get to meet the woman who gave birth to the esteemed Emmett Forrest!" Emmett groaned. He had _wanted_ to forget that Elle was meeting his mother today. He loved the woman, but he still wasn't mentally prepared for her meeting his blonde friend.

"Yeah, well, be careful what you wish for." Emmett braced himself for a response, but instead found Elle fully enraptured with the TV. "Elle?"

"Shhhh… The Rockettes are on." Emmett smiled.

"I'm just going to go shower and change then, I'll leave you be." Emmett got up, taking one last look at the sight that was Elle Woods before heading towards his bedroom.

* * *

At the sound of the bathroom door clicking shut, Elle immediately shot up, quietly heading towards Emmett's bedroom. As she entered, she took note of the unmade bed and boring law book on the bedside table. _If anyone's_ serious _here, it's Emmett_. She was on a mission though and had no time for distractions. Elle made her way over to the old dresser, taking a moment to fix her hair in the mirror until finally finding what she was looking for. She quickly pocketed it and returned back to the couch, a few minutes later hearing the shower turn off.

* * *

Emmett coughed and spluttered as he waved away the cloud of white surrounding his face. "Elle, you didn't have to pour the whole bag of flour on the table!"

"Sorry!" As the cloud of flour dissipated, Emmett saw Elle's face covered in white, clearly coming off worse than himself. He tried to stifle his laughter but failed, a snort escaping. The look Elle gave him had the propensity to kill, but it only caused Emmett to laugh more fully. Elle didn't join him however and Emmett watched her shoulders drop as she attempted to clean up the mess.

"Hey." Emmett grabbed a warm washcloth and handed it to Elle. "It's just flour, it's not a big deal." Elle cleaned off her face before responding.

"I know, but this is like the third time we've tried making this pie crust." Emmett sighed. Over the past hour he had quickly concluded that Elle was the equivalent of a ticking time bomb concerning anything in the kitchen. He half expected himself to be a little irritated with the lack of progress that had been made, but even now, Emmett couldn't help but find Elle's mishaps warming his heart.

"Maybe I was a bit over-ambitious," he said, opening the refrigerator. "Let's just go with this so we can get these pies in the oven. My mom is expecting pecan pie, and if it's not perfect I'll never hear the end of it." Emmett handed Elle a box of pre-made pie crusts and was given a look of contempt in return.

"Why couldn't we have used this from the start?"

"Well when you said you wanted to help, I figured I would have some _real_ help," Emmett smiled teasingly. Elle huffed and stepped closer, putting a finger on Emmett's chest.

"You, Emmett Forrest, are not a nice man." There was a twinkle in Elle's eyes as the finger on his chest turned into a hand that was pushing Emmett towards the cupboards. "Now get what else we need so we don't disappoint your mother." It wasn't until Emmett squatted down to get out the pie pans that he noticed the white handprint sitting brightly on his black shirt.

" _Elle_ ," he sighed dramatically, "this is my favorite Star Wars shirt!" The giggle Emmett heard behind him was enough to quell any misgivings about the temporary blemish on his clothing, and he took a moment to suppress his smile before standing back up, putting on a sad face for Elle. "And you said _I_ was mean," he pouted.

"It takes one to know one," she replied playfully. Elle grabbed the pie pan out of Emmett's hand and got to work. "Come on, I need some _real_ help with this." Emmett laughed and moved towards the table, once again wondering what he had done to deserve Elle Woods in his life.


End file.
